Sofie’s Reviews > Phantom Busters, Vol. 2 > Status Update

zaki's wistful look up to the sky as he explains who suguru geto is oh i know he's cried over satosugu edits at 3 am
this is another chapter that is chock full of tiny character moments like that and i also LOVE the slow buildup for the inevitable twist, starting with mogari noticing ren's scars. he's an idiot but he's not dumb, nor is he naive to his family's heartlessness

i love how each of the guys get individualized moments to openly express their love and appreciation for the friendship and to actively CHOOSE to rely on each other. while this is probably my least favorite chapter so far, i love the overall arc of mogari getting insecure about potentially holding eugene back and then eugene assuaging all those doubts by loudly and unabashedly choosing him

is there a single friend group free of homoerotic tension in this manga or
nika and usami are constantly vying for ichimiya's attention (and asking to be "used and abused" mmhmmm sure boys), ichimiya is obsessed with the core four, the core four is. well. we know what they are. and now maria and rinri????? this is EXACTLY how i like my character webs to function

let's go lesbians let's go
this almost makes up for the scourge of misogynistic tropes in this chapter

zaki is definitely on ao3 he knows exactly how dumb tamon and mogari sound with that particular slip up and he's INTO IT

this is perhaps one of the best pages of any manga i've ever read, literally everything about it is perfection
it's also not lost on me that mogari's only hangup was the snot, not the fact that knight is a guy, which was so refreshing to see. that was the easy joke, but neoshoco completely dodged it and instead decided to have boys kissing be the cure for the toxic masculinity demons. brilliant

toxic masculinity framed as literal possessive spirits that feed off of insecurity and fear and loneliness????? neoshoco i adore you and this incredibly queer manga

mogari's complete and utter confidence that zaki wouldn't ever successfully hit on a girl could read as a dig but i choose to read it as a statement of fact (that zaki also quickly agrees to!!!!) because that boy is gay. in fact, they're all gay except tamon. who is the token bi. obviously

part 5000 of me being endlessly endeared by these characters: what do you MEAN mogari, tamon, and zaki have never gotten birthday presents from friends before???????? cause they've never had friends?????????? but now they do and that's why tamon and zaki took the time to get him even the smallest thing, even if it was a day or two late, bc they know exactly how it feels to get nothing at all. fucking ouch

"they have nothing to hide, and that's what makes them so cool" apathy is lame!!! fearing cringe is lame!!! pretending to be "cooler" than you are is lame!!! and ichimiya is proof that even if you don't have the courage to be yourself just yet, there's hope and catharsis in just knowing that there are people out there who ARE courageous enough to be so ridiculously genuine